As it has for the past five races Rahal Letterman Racing put one of its BMW M3s on the pole of an American Le Mans Series race. This time it wasn’t the #56 car of Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand; this time it was Dirk Werner in #55 BMW which cranked off a lap nearly six-tenths of a second faster than its nearest competitor, and will lead the class at the ALMS Baltimore Grand Prix.
I put everything I had into that lap,” Werner told ESPN3. “There was not a lot of experience because in free practice everybody had just a couple laps and this is a new track to everybody. We came out of the box really good we studied the data of the practice.
“It’s fantastic to finally get on the pole. We have a few good qualifyings, but always it was very, very close. Now this is great for the guys who work on the #55 car, and for the team—another pole for BMW.
“It shows how strong the cars are, and it makes a difference here, especially, because overtaking is not easy.”
With nine minutes left in the 15-minute session, the order was Vette-BMW-Vette-BWM, with Jan Magnusson in the #4 Corvette Racing C6-ZR taking insane risks, brushing the walls, and setting the best time. The Dirk Werner set off on his own high-risk-high-reward effort, coming just as close to disaster but also obliterating the lap time set by Mags.
Traffic became an issue at this point as all the frontrunners ended up bunched up on the course. Pat Long in the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche came up on Jan Magnusson as the Danish driver was easing off; this balked Long, who was on a hot lap. Long tapped the Corvette’s bumper and took off around the Vette, hoping to salvage something.
Shortly thereafter Long ran up behind the #62 Risi Ferrari 458 driven by Jaime Melo. Melo, just off a hot lap and wanting to cool his ties, slowed dramatically while still on the racing line, again balking Long’s Porsche. Long slowed, let Melo pass, and deliberately rammed the Ferrari, damaging a tire and the rear bodywork.
For his part, Long was completely unapologetic.
“Well, unfortunately there were a couple of drivers on two occasions that were driving around in first gear trying to get a gap, but they were on the racing line and they were not taking any other people’s racing laps into account,” Long told ESPN3. “When you drive around in first gear sometimes you get run into the back of.”
Dave Sims, Risi Competizione Team Manager, said he didn’t think his driver Jaime Melo was deliberately blocking the racing line.
“What I saw on TV was an unnecessary hit, so we are going to go up there and sort it out,” Sim said. “I know [Long] was on a flyer we were on a cooling-down lap, but until I see them both—we will see what happens.”
When asked if he got any radio messages from Mel o after the incident Sims replied, “Normal one—‘He hit me on purpose.’ That’s what he said, so—we will see.”
Patrick Long, who had qualified third, and Jaime Melo, who had qualified sixth, were both penalized for “unjustifiable risk” and relegated to the back of the 30-car grid.
Joey Hand qualified the #56 BMW fourth.
I put everything I had into that lap,” Werner told ESPN3. “There was not a lot of experience because in free practice everybody had just a couple laps and this is a new track to everybody. We came out of the box really good we studied the data of the practice.
“It’s fantastic to finally get on the pole. We have a few good qualifyings, but always it was very, very close. Now this is great for the guys who work on the #55 car, and for the team—another pole for BMW.
“It shows how strong the cars are, and it makes a difference here, especially, because overtaking is not easy.”
With nine minutes left in the 15-minute session, the order was Vette-BMW-Vette-BWM, with Jan Magnusson in the #4 Corvette Racing C6-ZR taking insane risks, brushing the walls, and setting the best time. The Dirk Werner set off on his own high-risk-high-reward effort, coming just as close to disaster but also obliterating the lap time set by Mags.
Traffic became an issue at this point as all the frontrunners ended up bunched up on the course. Pat Long in the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche came up on Jan Magnusson as the Danish driver was easing off; this balked Long, who was on a hot lap. Long tapped the Corvette’s bumper and took off around the Vette, hoping to salvage something.
Shortly thereafter Long ran up behind the #62 Risi Ferrari 458 driven by Jaime Melo. Melo, just off a hot lap and wanting to cool his ties, slowed dramatically while still on the racing line, again balking Long’s Porsche. Long slowed, let Melo pass, and deliberately rammed the Ferrari, damaging a tire and the rear bodywork.
For his part, Long was completely unapologetic.
“Well, unfortunately there were a couple of drivers on two occasions that were driving around in first gear trying to get a gap, but they were on the racing line and they were not taking any other people’s racing laps into account,” Long told ESPN3. “When you drive around in first gear sometimes you get run into the back of.”
Dave Sims, Risi Competizione Team Manager, said he didn’t think his driver Jaime Melo was deliberately blocking the racing line.
“What I saw on TV was an unnecessary hit, so we are going to go up there and sort it out,” Sim said. “I know [Long] was on a flyer we were on a cooling-down lap, but until I see them both—we will see what happens.”
When asked if he got any radio messages from Mel o after the incident Sims replied, “Normal one—‘He hit me on purpose.’ That’s what he said, so—we will see.”
Patrick Long, who had qualified third, and Jaime Melo, who had qualified sixth, were both penalized for “unjustifiable risk” and relegated to the back of the 30-car grid.
Joey Hand qualified the #56 BMW fourth.
